


Percy Could Do It

by Panic_At_The_Disney



Series: Solangelo One-Shots [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Nightmares, Three Days in the Infirmary (Percy Jackson)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23915107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panic_At_The_Disney/pseuds/Panic_At_The_Disney
Summary: Just your classic "Nico has a nightmare and Will helps" fic
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo One-Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060127
Comments: 14
Kudos: 116





	Percy Could Do It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HPbooks4life](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPbooks4life/gifts).



> Thanks again for all the awesome comments! Y'all make my day :)  
> Edit: Thanks to HPbooks4life for helping me out with some rating things!  
> The rating for this is partly for the descriptions of Nico's dream, but mostly because I'm paranoid lol

He was back. He was back in the place he least wanted to be. He knew the minute he took a breath, the sulfurous air filling his lungs. His hand subconsciously reached for his stygian iron sword, only to find it missing. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized he was weaponless in the pit of eternal damnation. His battle instincts kicked in, and he surveyed his surroundings for an escape route before mentally kicking himself. Nico was in Tartarus. There would be no escape.

Focusing back on the task at hand, he lowered his expectations and simply looked for a way to survive, at least temporarily. He caught sight of the fiery waters of the Phlegethon and stumbled towards it, his short time in the pit already affecting him. The river only seemed to get farther away.

  
Nico was truly beginning to panic now. He was back in Tartarus, and his single advantage of knowing his way around proved to be pointless, as he couldn’t reach the river. He heard a whistling sound and turned just in time for an arrow to embed itself in his bicep. Nico’s hand flew to the wound as his knees gave out. He fell to the broken glass-covered ground, not caring as the sharp pieces stung his legs.

  
He heard footsteps and saw a lone archer clothed in a white robe approach him. Nico tried in vain to stand, wincing as he caught sight of the arrow wound. It looked deep, and it burned like acid. He could see a lot of blood, and had to resist the temptation to pull out the arrow, knowing that that would only increase his blood loss.

  
He turned his attention back to the archer as he pulled back his hood. Nico gasped as he recognized the face of Will Solace.

  
His blonde curls lay messy around his tan face like usual, but that was the only similarity between the Will Nico knew and this one. The archer in front of him stood with a posture that suggested nothing but arrogance. His blue eyes that Nico would find himself thinking of at inappropriate times were cold and judging. The freckles around his face made him look all too attractive for someone who had just shot Nico, as his throbbing wound would not let him forget. Then Will spoke, and all thoughts of this being a fake Will flew out of his mind, for this Will had the same voice as the Will Nico knew and loved.

  
“Ah, Nico, back so soon? I thought you were done with Tartarus. Though judging by the tears streaming down your face, you didn’t think you’d be back here again, either.”

  
It was true. Nico hastily wiped away the tears he didn’t even know he had shed.

  
“W-will--”

  
“Quiet, devil.” Nico’s mouth dropped open in shock at Will’s words.

  
“W-what?”

  
“You heard me. Why so surprised? You know what you are, and you’d be best to not forget it. You are Hades-spawn; that’s all you’ll ever be.”

  
Nico’s tears were falling without hesitation now, and he made no effort to dry them.

  
“Why should I bother telling you this?” Will continued. “You learned this all so recently, on the Argo II. Spending your time apart from the seven, knowing you would never be a part of their group, and how right you were.”

  
Will walked around Nico’s huddled form, scoffing at his tears.

  
“And thinking Jason was really your friend! He pities you, you know. After Croatia...” Will shuddered. “I’m disgusted by you, I really am. You honestly thought anyone could love you? You are a depressing creature! I should just leave you here, in Tartarus. Yes, we’ll call it a test of will. Ha, get it? A test of Will?”

  
He laughed at his own joke, earning a watery smile from Nico. Will was hurting him badly, but at least he still had his sense of humor. His smile vanished at Will’s next words.

  
“Devil, I will leave you here. You survived Tartarus once before, are you too weak to do it again? Percy could do it in a heartbeat.” The sound of Percy’s name brought a choked sob from Nico’s throat. “Fight your way out, and then I’ll see about being kind to you, okay, Devil?”

  
Nico nodded slightly, feeling determination rush through him. He could do this. He could survive, he had to, for Will.

  
Nico rose unsteadily to his feet and began to resume stumbling fruitlessly towards the Phlegethon, before a searing pain in his gut made him fall again. He turned just in time to see Will lower his bow. Will smirked at him before vanishing in a flash of golden light.

  
Within seconds, a hourd of hellhounds appeared in Will’s stead, determined to end Nico’s fight. Nico again reached for his sword, only to find it gone again.

  
Who was he kidding? He couldn’t fight his way out of Tartarus without his sword, no matter how much he wanted to please Will.  
The hellhounds advanced at him. They clawed at him, ripping at his skin. Nico endured the torture, before he couldn’t hang on any longer, his vision going dark with blood loss. Right before his vision blackened completely, a voice shouted loudly a familiar nickname that had Nico sitting up immediately.

  
More as a reflex than anything, Nico whimpered out the words he always said in response.

  
“Don’t call me Death Boy.”  
Slow upon waking, it took Nico a minute to realise that he was in the infirmary, for his mandatory three days of rest from the war with Gaea. It took him another minute to notice tears running freely down his face. The pain in his bicep hadn’t gone away, but he realized that it was the gashes from Lycaon, the first werewolf, that were still throbbing. Before any of this, though, Nico noticed the blonde haired boy kneeling on his cot, face filled with concern, and way. Too. Close.

  
Still disoriented from his dream, Nico pushed Will, with the intent of gaining his much-needed personal space, but he underestimated his strength, and ended up shoving Will hard enough for him to fall off the cot. He fell to the floor with a muffled thump.

  
“Ow,” Will said, way too calmly.

  
Nico tried to scramble out of bed to help Will, but the son of Apollo stood and brushed himself off before he could, gently pushing Nico back down.

  
Nico leaned back against the headboard and hugged his knees to his chest. His senses were shutting off, to be overpowered by one thought--he had hurt Will. How could he hurt Will? What was wrong with him? He kept messing up.

  
Nico hated crying. It made him feel weak. Son of Hades, Ghost King, Prince of the Underworld, Nico did not cry. But he couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

  
Will’s look of surprise faded away the minute he saw Nico’s tears. The blonde boy immediately sat on the cot next to Nico. He approached hesitantly, arms outstretched, and when Nico didn’t move to stop him, Will wrapped his arms around the son of Hades’ broken form.

  
At such a simple gesture, Nico exploded, though not literally. Thank the gods. After Octavian, he never wanted to see another explosion in his life.

  
Not used to being shown such kindness, and not feeling like he deserved the comfort, he stiffened, before relaxing into the one-sided hug.

  
Will rubbed his back through the gods-for-saken Hawaiian shirt from Buford’s Zippy Mart, and Nico wrapped his arms around the son of Apollo, softly crying into his hospital scrubs.

  
Will held him for a minute or two longer, before pulling back to look at Nico’s tear-stained face.

  
“Nico, what happened?” He asked gently.

  
“N-nightmare... He called me a devil. He... said I was a depressing creature! He...he said the truth!”

  
Nico hung his head in shame, but Will cupped his face gently, forcing Nico to look at him.

  
“Who said that, Nico? Because whoever it was, I will find them, and I will rip off their--”

  
“You.”

  
“...What?”

  
“You said it. You were there, only it wasn’t you. But at the same time, it was… You were in Tar-- you were there, and you shot me with an arrow--”

  
“I suck at archery, Nico, you know that.”

  
“--and then you started talking to me.”

  
“...What did I say?” Will asked hesitantly.

  
“You called me a devil, like I said before. And then you said that Percy...you said that Percy could survive Tartarus in a heartbeat.”

  
Will’s face flew through several emotions; shock, disbelief, begrudging acceptance, and finally, horror. He wrapped his arms tighter around Nico.

  
“Nico, I would never--”

  
“I know."

  
And he did. Despite years of forced solitude; despite being a child of Hades, destined to live a miserable life; despite being a demigod, plagued with constant suffering; despite being so very different from everyone he knew, Nico finally found a home. He trusted Will, and it was that knowledge that allowed him to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

  
And if Will slept in a chair next to Nico’s cot instead of in cabin seven, well, that was nobody’s business but theirs.


End file.
